By SOLA OGUNDIPE

A TOTAL of N1.92 trillion is required annually to meet the health needs of all Nigerians. Executive Secretary/CEO of the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, Dr. Femi Thomas, who disclosed this in Lagos, said an estimated 70.8 million Nigerians are expected to be enrolled on the programme by 2015.

Thomas, who described the 40 percent coverage target earmarked for next year as realistic, called for adoption of the risk-pulling strategy to help finance the Scheme.

“When we talk about risk pulling it is possible to pull funds to a level of significance. Take the pension fund for instance. It has gone into trillions. The benefit is that the nation now has a large chunk of funds to finance the real sector. These are like idle funds that have  innate capability to resist depletion.

“You contribute, I contribute and in 10 years I might not need it, while others may need it. The important thing is that what I have contributed is available for otherts to use. This is risk-pulling. There are collateral advantages that go with this. As demand grows, supply also grows.

Noting that the entire Scheme is to be restructured into a Commission, All we need is just to create the demand. “I was in the US last week and I have obtained many CVs of Nigerians ready to come back home.  The single most important thing I want Nigerians to look at is the issue of clinical governance. With clinical governance, all professionals will come together with the patient as the centre of activity.

Everything should be patient-centred. What I expect is that the moment you have a patient at the centre, every person that should attend to that patient  will hover aroud that patient. Clinical governance is about the patient and the moment capitation is paid for that patient, it is expected that everyone that has a role to play should be ready.

What is causing problem is about risk-pulling. If there is a programme for 170 million Nigerians, and as at today only a tenth of that population is covered, it is not enough, by the time 50 percent is covered there will be more for everyone.”

Already, the Scheme is developing programmes to take care of the formal sector first and then programmes for the informal sector will follow in due course.